Trenching-machine.



PATENTED JULY 3, 1906.

H. J. BENTSON. TRENUHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1905.

6 SHEETS-BRET 1.

PATENTED JULY 3, 1906.

H. J. BENTSON.

TRENGHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1905;

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5E 64430! 5" EL- No. 824,839. PATENTED JULY 3, 1906. H. J. BBNTSON.TRENGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1905.

6 SHEETSSHEET 3.

No. 824,839. PATENTED JULY 3, 1906.

H. J. BENTSON.

TRENGHIN G MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1905.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

g 7%; 172cm No. 824,839. PATBNTED JULY 3, 1906.

H. J. BENTSON.

TRENGHING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 7, 1905.

6 SERIES-SHEET 5.

PATENTBD JULY 3, 1906.

H. J BBNTSON. TRENOHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1905.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

WCZ/Ldi'aissd4, ZYW W 6/ UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

HANS "J. BEN TSON or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO FREDERICK c.

AUSTIN, OF CHICAGO. ILLINOIS. v

TRENCHINGFMAOHINE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3, 1906.

Application filed l lovember 7. 1905. Serial No. 286,216.

To all whom'it may concern.-

Beit known that I, HANS J. BENTSON, a citizen of the United Statesresidiiig atChicago, in the county of Cook and State, of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Trenchin -Machines, ofwhich the following is a speci cation.

My invention relates to trenching-machines in which a suitable truck orbody--' frame is provided with rearwardly-arran' ed excavating means andadvanced by suita lepropelling means proportionally to the progress ofthe'work.

A'prominent and particular obj ect of my invention is to provide simpleand eiiicient means for forming a trench or ditch with s10 ing sidewalls.

urther objects are to avoid clogging, to conveniently and effectivelycarry off the loose soil, to provide a compact and durableconstructionof excavating means, to provlde' fora suitably wide range of adjustmenton the part of the excavating means, to permit the excavatin means to beenlarged with reference to t 0 formation of a compara tively wide trenchwithout necessitating the construction of an undesirably lar e and heavybody-frame and machinery t ereon, and to provide certain furtherimproved features of construction, combination, and detail serving toincrease the general efficiency and desirability of means for diggingditches.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of atrenching-machine embodying the principles of my invention. Fig. 2 is adetail section mainly illustrating. a clutch device, which isishown inside elevation in Fig. 1 and employed for connecting and disconnectingcertain devices hereinafter mentioned with and from the motor or drivingpower. Fig. 3-is' a sectional detail mainly illustrating the pitman andcrank mainly illustrating certain driving-gear for i one of'thesupportin-wheels of the machine, the section being on line 8 Sin Fig. 4. Fig. 9is a detail view, partly in section, illustrating a portion of theexcavating-wheel and a portionof' the endless excavating-conveyer, thesection being transversely through the frame portion of the wheel. Fig.10 is a like view with the section taken through the wheel at anotherpoint. of the endless excavating-conveyer and may be termed an edge viewof the same. Fig. 12 is a top plan. view of Fig. 11. Fig. 13 comprisestwo views of one of the edge or outside cutters or blades of the endlessexoavating-conveyer. Fig.v 14 comprises two views of one of the middleor inner plow blades of the endless excavating-conveyer.

Figs. 15, 16, and 17 are views from different sides of one of the knivesor paring-blades which are in certain other figures shown secured to thespokes of the excavating-wheel. Fig. 18' is a plan, and Fig. 19 is aside elevation, of a part of one of the angle-rim portions of'theexcavating-wheel. These views also show the removable teeth and keys orwedges wherebysaid teeth are looked upon the wheelone of the rearsprockets for the endless conveyer-belt and includes .a portion of thelatter trained upon said sprocket.

The operating members of the machine are shown supported upon a wheeledcarriage A, having a suitable motor or engine and driving mechanism,whereby it can be propelled from place to place, itbeing understood thatduring the operation of digging a trench the means or that it can bewarped ahead in a common and well-known way. The engine or motor can beof any suitable type.

As herein illustrated, the boiler B is ar-' ranged upon the rear part ofthe lower frame portion 1, and the motor or engine 0 is supported uponthe upper frame portion 2 of the body-frame A. By this arrangement theengine is brought within convenient ran e of the various operative partsof the mac 'ne. A pitman 3, Figs. 1 and 8, connects at one end with acrank 4 on the sprocket-shaft 5, said pitman connecting at its oppositeend with a vibratory arm 6, arranged to vibrate about the axis 7 of aspur-wheel 8 and pro- Fig. 11 illustrates a portion rim portions. Fig.20 is a detail illustrating V machine can be advanced by said propellingvided with a pawl 9, which engages the spur or ratchet wheel 8, as shownin Fig. 1. The pitman is operated by the sprocket-shaft, the object ofthis arrangement being to produce a step bystep movement, whereby anysuitable warping means connected with the wheel 8 can be operatedas, forexample the axleof the wheel 8 is provided with a winding-drum, as shownin dotted lines, and a cable 10 extends downwardlyfrom this winding-drumto and under a guide-pulley 11 below the main frame and thenceforwardly, as illustrated, it being understood that during operationthis cable can be attached to a stake or post driven into the ground ata suitable point ahead of the machine.

The body-frame A is constructed with a lower frame portion 1, which ismounted upon front wheels 12 and rear wheels 13. Said body-frame. isalso constructed with an upper frame portion 2, which extends back ofthe lower frame portion 1, so as to overhang a trench in which theexcavating portion of the machine is operating, as in Fig. 1, this upperelevated portion 2 of the bodyframe being supported at its rear end bythe rear inclined frame portion 14 and at its forward end by theinclined frame portion 15, it being particularly observed that the rearframe portion 14 inclines upwardly and rearwardly from the rear end ofthe lower frame portion 1, thereby leaving ample space for theexcavating-wheel hereinafter particularly described. The sprocket-shaft5 is provided at one end with a crank 4, hereinbefore mentioned, andprovided at its opposite end with a comparatively large gear 16, whichlatter is operated from the engine by suitable power-transmittingconnection, such as a pitman and suitable gearing. For example,rotaryshaft 17 (best ,shown in Fig. 4) is operated by the engine-pitman 18 andprovided with a gear or pinion 19, which engages the large gear 16, and,as shown in said figure,the

gear 16 engages a gear 20, which in turn may connect with an annulargear 21 on one of the front wheels by means of any suitable arrangementof connecting-gearas, for example, the gear 20, as shown in Figs. 4 and8, engages a gear 22 on an axle 23, and the gear 22 engages a gear 24,which in turn connects with the wheebgear 2]. by a compensating gear 25,Fig. 8, and a pinion 26, arranged upon an axle 27. The gear can bethrown out of mesh with gear 16 by any suitable clutch device 28, itbeing observed that this portion of the machine is for applying power toone of the wheels, so that when the machine is not at work it can bepropelled as an automobile.

D indicates a transversely-arranged con veyer for receiving the loosesoil and dis charging the same at one side of the machine, it beingobserved that this conveyer is eleopposite si thereon.

teases vated and arranged above the lower frame portion 1 of the machineand that, as illustrated, it comprises suitable frame portions 29 and 30and anendless conveyer-belt 31, arranged upon rolls 32 on the frameportions 29 and 30 The belt 31 is operated by a suitable drivenbelt-roll on a rotary shaft 33, Fig. 7, said shaft being provided at oneend with a sprocket 34, upon which is trained a short endless drivin-belt 35. This driving-belt 35 is operated y a driven sprocket 36, fixedupon a horizontal shaft 37, and said shaft 37 can be connected with anddisconnected from a worm-wheel 38 on the sprocket-shaft 5 by means of aclutch device E,(illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 5,) it being observedthat as this particular device for operatin the transverse conveyer-beltis shown an described in a prior patent it need not be herein furtherreferred to in detail, it being regarded as only necessary to state thatin this machine I prefer to provide a transversely-arrangeddelivery-conveyer and to carry the loose soil from the trench up to saidtransversely-arranged delivery belt or conveyer. Also I may here notethat the excavating means hereinafter more particularly described arepeculiarly and especially adapted to entirely clear the trench of loosedirt and to carry the soil asit is loosened upwardly and out of thetrench, and then forwardly of the end of the trench, so as to entirelyclear the latter and avoid the spilling of loose dirt into thenewly-formed excavation.

The excavating means comprise an endless excavating conveyer-beltadapted for digging a trench of suitable depth and an excavating-wheelupon which the endess excavating conveyer-belt is trained, theexcavatingwheel bein provided with spokes which at es thereof spread orincline outwardly from the peripheral portion of the wheel, said spokesbeing provided with blades rigid thereon and adapted for cutting theside walls of the trench, so as to produce a trench having sloping sideWalls which converge downwardly from the ground-line. The inclinedarrangement of spokes and the blades secured thereon will give to theside walls of the trench a defined inclination or slope in conformitywith the degree of inclination'of the spokes and the arrangement ofblades Durin operation the soil. pared from the side wal s of the trenchby the blades on the spokes falls to the bottom of the trench, Where itis taken by the endless excavating conveyer-belt and by such beltcarried along with other loose dirt upwardly and out of the trench to apoint where the soil is discharged onto the transversely-arrangeddelivery-belt.

The width of the bottom of the trench is determined by the width of theendless excavating conveyer-belt, so that the knives on the sides of thewheel are left to shape the side walls of the ditch and give to the sameupon the opposite end of said support.

an incline which extends downwardly and terminates along the bottomportion formed by the endless excavating-conveyer.

F indicates the excavating-wheel arranged in rear of the machine andrevolubly mounted upon a swinging support G. The support G is at one endfulcrumed to swing about the axis ofthetransversely-arrangedsprocketshaft 5, the excavating-wheel being mounltleld e support G can be of any suitab e construction, and it can beraised and lowered by any suitable raisin and lowering .device, themeans herein s own being a rack 39, which is hinged to the support andunderstood to be in engagement with a suitable operatinggear. Theexcavating-wheel F is construct ed with two annular rim portions 40,which are made angular in cross-section, as illustrated in Figs. 9, 10,and 18. These rim portions 40 are spaced or set apart to an extentproportional to the width of the endless excavating conveyer-belt H, asbest illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10. Each rim ortion 40 is provided witha series of teet 41, having shank portions 42, which are insertedthrough openings in the rim portions 40 and locked in p ace by keys 43,wedged into openings which are formed in the shank portions 42 at pointsto permit the wedges when thus inserted to bear against the innerperiphery of the rim portions 40, as shown in Figs. 9, 18, and 19. Bysuch arrangement a broken tooth can be readily removed and a new toothsubstitutedtherefor. These teeth 41 engage suitable portions of theendless excavating conveyor-belt, whereb when said belt is driven itwill operate t e excavatin wheel. Each rim portion of the wheel isprovided with a set of spokes 44, which incline outwardly from the rimportion, whereby each side of the wheel has a conical conformation, thecone being of course made up of s okes. Theseinclinedspokes areprovidedWit cutters I, which are rigidly secured upon the spokes and adapted foraring down the side walls of the trench. T ese cutters can be secured tothe spokes in any suitable way, a simple arrangement being to provideeach cutter wit a shank portion 45, Figs. 15 and 16, having bolt-holes46 for bolts which can be inserted through said holes, so as to rigidlybolt the cutters to the spokes. The holes 46 are preferably in a lineoblique to the length of the cutter, as in Fig. 15, whereby the cutterscan be set so as to eflect a shear out. .An effective form of cutter isillustrated in Figs. 15, 16, and 17 although I do not confine myself tothe specific form of cutter thus shown. If desired, the wheel may alsobe braced and strengthened by spokes 47 it being understood that all ofthese spokes are at their inner ends secured to a'suitable hubsuch,forexample, asa hub 48. (Illustrated in Fig. 5.) The endlessexcavatingconveyer herein illustrated comprises as a matter of generalconstruction a pair of marginal chains 49, composed of suitablyconnectedlinks, and a series of cross bars or plates 50, connecting together atintervals the two endless chains 49, the said bars or plates 50 beingprovided with suitable cutters and plows for excavating purposes. In thedrawings each cross bar or plate 50 of the endless excavating-conveyeris provided with plow-blades 51,, some of these cross bars-or platesbeing also provided with end cutters 52, it being observed that theplow-blades 51 of one cross bar or plate are staggered with reference tothe plow-blades of the next adjacent cross bar or plate, as illustratedby comparing Fig. 9 with Fig. 10, it being seen that in Fig. 9 theplow-blades are opposite the s aces between the plow-blades in Fig.

y this arrangement of plates or crossbars and low-blades the soil whichis dug up by the p ow-blades 51 and the cutters 52 is carriedupwardly'and out of the trench during operation, and this arrangementalso serves to carry up and out of the trench such soil as may be paredfrom the side walls of the trench by the blades I, it being understoodthat during operation the rotary action of the excavating-Wheel willcause the soil thus loosened by the blades I to drop within the range ofaction of the plows, whereby it will be carried up along with the soilwhich the plows themselves have loosened. In order to permit thisendless excavating-conveyer H to further carry the soil from theground-line up to a oint where it will discharge upon thedeivery-conveyer D, the machine 1s provided with an inclined trough,chute, or guideway K, arranged at the rear of the machine and providingasurface along which the lows can carry up loose dirt.

The en ess excavating-belt H is trained over the excavatin -wheel F inrear of the machine, and it is a so trained over sprockets L, securedupon the sprocket-shaft 5 at a point forward of the rear end of thebodyframe of the machine, said sprockets L being in position to permitautomatic wipers 55 on the endless excavating conveyer-beltto free theplows and plates thereon from the elevated soil at a point proper fordischarging the latter onto the transversely-arranged delivery-conveyerD. The endless excavating conveyer-belt passes from the sprockets Ldownwardly to and under the wheel F, and from the up er portion of saidexcavatingwheel F the heft H passes over one or more elevated idlers 56,arran ed upon shaft 57, and from thence said be t passes forwardly tothe sprockets L. The idlers 56, which may consist of one or morerolls orwheels on the axle 57, are mounted upon the. hi hest rear ortion of themachine, whereby am enab ed to provide a large excavating-wheel suitablefor digging trenches of considerable depth, and by such arrangement I amalso enabled to raise and lower the. wheel without cramping or bindingthe elevating conveyerbelt, it being observed that when the wheelisraised and lowered the lower portion of the belt swings about thesprockets L and that the upper swinging portion of the said belt swingsabout theshaft 57 With I further reference to the guide or apron K itwill be seen that the same is ractically tangential to the lowerperiphera portion of the excavating-wheel when the latter is lowered andat work Within a trench, as in.

Fig. 1, and that the endless excavating conveyer-belt carries the soilup to the'groundline and thence upwardly along the guide portion of theinclined apron. ,7

Although the excavating-wheel is shown with its periphery com osed ofthe two spaced rim portions, it is roadly considered a wheel having aperiphery equal or substantially equal in width to the wldth of thebottom of the trench. The wheel, however, is practically completed bythe endless excavating conveyer-belt, which is equal or substantiallyequal in width to the periphery of the wheel and which when trainedthereon me be said to form the tread of the wheel, which latter has itssides inclined outwardly from the margins. of the endless belt andprovided with knives for making the side Walls of the trench inclined.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a trenching-maclfine, anexcavating wheelconstructed with spokes inclined from the periphery ofthe wheel outwardly toward opposite sides of the-latter and havingblades secured thereon and arranged for makin the side walls of thetrench inclined; an en less excavating conveyer-belt provided with plowsand trained upon the excavating-wheel for di ging the trench and carryup the loosened soi means for operating the endless excavatingconveyer-belt; and means for raising and owering the excavatingwheel. a.v

2. In a trenching-machine, an excavatingwheel constructed with spokesinclined from the periphery of the wheel outwardly toward opposite sidesof the latter and havin blades secured thereon and arranged for ma 'ngthe side walls of the trench inclined; an endless excavatingconveyer-belt trained on the excavating-wheel for digging thetrench andcar 'ng up the loosened soil means for op erating the endless excavatingconveyer-b elt;

a transversely-arrangedconveyer positioned upon the machine to receiveloose soil carried up by and discharged from the endlessconveyer-beltand means for raising and lowering the excavatingwheel. i I

3. In a trenching-machine, a body-frame; a 'swingin member hinged uponthe'bodyframe an extendin rearwardly therefrom;

an excavating-whee mounted upon the rear.

portion of said swinging member and constructed with s okes inclinedfrom the peripheryof the w eel outwardly toward oppo site sides thereofand having blades secured thereon and arranged for making the side wallsof the trench inclined; an endless excavating conveyor-belt trained uponthe excavating-wheel-for digging the trench and carrying up the loosenedsoil means for operating the endless excavating conveyer-belt; and meansfor raising and lowering the swinging member upon which theexcavating-wheel is supported.

.4. In a trenching-machine, a body-frame having a rearwardly projectingportion adapted to overhang an end portion of the trench duringoperation; a swinging member hinged upon the body-frame forward of therear terminal thereof and extending back of such rear terminal of theframe; an excavating-wheel mounted upon the rear portion of the swingingmember and constructed with spokes inclined from the periphery of thewheel outwardly toward opposite sides thereof and having blades securedthereon and arranged for makin the side walls of the trench inchned; anend ess excavating conveyerbelt trained upon the excavating-wheel fordigging the trench and carrying up the loosened soil; means foroperating the endless excavating corWeyer-belt, and means for raisingand loweringthe swinging member up on which the excavating-wheel ismounted.

5. In a trenching-machine, an excavatingwheel constructed with spokesinclined from its periphery outwardly toward opposite sides thereof andhaving blades secured thereto and arranged'for making the side walls ofthe trench inclined; a support for the excavating-wheel arranged forup-and-down movement; an endless excavating belt trained upon theexcavating-wheel for dig- 'ng the trench and carrying loosened soilorwardly and upwardly; means for operating the endless excavatingconveyer-belt; and a guide or apron over which a ortion of the endlessexcavating conve er-be t moving upwardly above the ground-hue asses.

v 6. In a trenchingma'chin e,'a od -frame; a delivery-conveyer arrangedupon t e bodyframe; an excavatingwheel upon which'the endless excavatingconveyer-belt is trained; means for operating said belt j and means forsupporting and raising and lowering said cavating-wheel supported uponsaid member and constructed withsides which incline outwardly from theperiphery of the wheel and have blades secured to them and arran ed forforming the trench with sloping slde walls; an engine upon thebody-frame; means for operating the excavating-wheel from the engine;and means for raising and lowering the member upon which the excavating-9. In a trenching-machine, a body-frame having an upper portionextending back of its lower portion and adapted to overhang an endportion of the trench while the lower frame portion is ahead of such endof the trench; an excavating-wheel supported in rear of the body-frameand constructed with spokes inclined from the wheel-rim outwardly towardopposite sides of the wheel, and having blades secured thereon andarranged for making the side walls of the trench inclined; an endlessexcavating conveyer-belt trained on the excavating-wheel and adapted fordigging a trench; means for operating the endless excavatinconveyer-belt and means for raising and owering the excavatingwheel.

10. In a trenching-machine, a body-frame an excavating-wheel providedwith side blades, and a member supported upon the body-frame forup-and-down movement and in turn supporting the excavating-wheel at itsrear portion back of the body-frame; an endless excavating-belt trainedupon the excavating-wheel and also trainedupon a sprocket mounted on themain frame; the upper leaf of the excavatin belt which extends from saidsprocket to t e upper portion of the excavating-wheel being carriedovera roll or sprocket which is mounted upon the rear portion of themain frame at a point between the excavatingwheel and the sprocket firstmentioned.

1 1. In an excavating machine, a body- 'frame a sprocket mountedthereon; a swinging member hung to swing about the axis of' thesprocket; an excavating-wheel provided with inclined sides and sidecutters and mounted upon the swinging member; an endless excavatin belttrained u on both the sprocket andt e excavating-w eel; an idlerupholdingthe upper leaf of the excavatingbelt at a point between theexcavating-wheel and the sprocket; means for operating the sprocket andmeans for raising and lowering t e swinging member.

12. In a trenching-machine, an excavatingwheel having a periphery: equalor substan.' tially equal in width to the width of the bottom of thetrench; an endless excavating conveyerbelt trained upon theexcavatingwheel and equal 'orsubstantially equal in width to theperiphery of the excavatingwheel; a body-frame; means upon the bodyframefor supporting and operatin the endless 'excavatin belt, and means orraising and lowering 516 excavating-wheel, said excavating-wheel beinconstructed with sides inclined outwardly om the margins of the endlessexcavating-belt and havin blades 7 secured thereon to make the side Wals of the trench inclined.

HANS J. BENTSON.

Witnesses:

CHARLES G. PAGE, OTTILIE C..FREIBERG.

